Anxiety of Separation
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: Keith's worst experience in life comes back to haunt him when the paladins take a leave from the Castle of Lions only to find themselves stuck performing a mission for the garrison involving four runaway kids. The fact the Galra recaptured Shiro did not help either.


_Disclaimer – I don't own Voltron: Legendary Defender or Boxcar Children. This is written for number 182 on my 2017 prompt list. For this prompt, I need to write a crossover between Voltron and a 1940s work, and I picked Boxcar Children. For this fanfic, the Boxcar Children books take place in V: LD era, and this is AU for the Boxcar Children plot. Another story working with the Shiro and Keith are brothers' theory._

 **Anxiety of Separation**

The red paladin stared at commander Iverson, wondering exactly how he happened to end up in this situation. "Oh, I remember." The sixteen-year-old folded his arms across his chest, his lips pushing together in irritation. "Allura thought it was a good idea for us to check back in with our home planet."

Iverson's eyebrow twitched, while the other three paladins turned to look at him. Pidge pushed up her glasses, lowering her eyes as if their current leader since Shiro's capture had managed to do something embarrassing. Hunk simply stared, while Lance let one eyebrow rise up. Unlike the commander of the garrison, though, Lance happened to seem rather amused, his bright blue eyes twinkling. Keith's eyes blinked a couple of times as the commander cleared his voice. "Kagone…"

"Dude..." Lance let out a laugh. "You said that out loud."

"Donkeys, may I remind you that all of you are on probation for leaving the garrison without permission." Iverson looked Keith right in the eye. "Except you. Do you understand how lucky you are to be here?"

The red paladin's mouth opened up to say, " _Not understanding why you're saying that when you're not in control of the Voltron team._ "

The commander held up his fingers, pushing them together as his eyes narrowed in irritation. "Zip it. Let me clearly remind you, Kagone, that you got kicked from this garrison, and if I had my way you would _not_ be in charge of this ragtag outfit."

"If you had your way, none of us would be paladins of Voltron."

The smirk quickly fell from Lance's face, and the Hispanic teen narrowed his eyes. "Wow, Keith. Nice way of digging yourself even deeper there."

"You're correct." Iverson stood up, his hands touching the desk, but curling up into fists as he did so. His eyes looked at Lance first. "You've got one cadet who refuses to take anything except outside of flirting with the opposite sex seriously. You've got a second cadet who would rather cower under a table." The commander's eyes drifted to Hunk, making the rather large teen flinch. "And a third who may very well be a far worse hikikomori then you ever were."

Pidge pushed up her glasses at this comment. "I'm not sure if that was meant to be a compliment or not."

"It wasn't donkey!" Iverson snapped, making every paladin except Keith jump. "Let me make it clear, that until the princess is ready to leave our planet's orbit with you punks, I am in charge of your scrawny asses, and I am giving you the missions. I've also got full authorization to request that princess of yours replace you for someone else. Have I made myself clear?"

"No sir, you have not."

"Keith!" Lance hissed out of his mouth. "What are you trying to do?"

"Clearly he is not aware of the fact the lions pick their pilots."

Iverson walked around the table, placing his face right next to Keith's. "Kagone, you know full well I can make your life a living hell. Let me also make it all clear that the only reason I'm sending you brats on this mission is because the head of the Shirogane family requested it."

"Quiznack…" Keith's body finally tensed up, his eyes darting away, making him catch the look of frustration on Lance's face.

"I'm glad I made myself clear on this one Kagone. Let me repeat the mission requirements since you have mud for brains. This mission involves the four grandchildren of a prominent businessman."

"Yeah. Babysitting. Boring." Lance piped up. "I said that already, though, which is when you interrupted the entire conversation letting us know you were not paying attention at all."

Keith let out a deep breath, a shudder running down his spine. "No, it's not."

Hunk groaned, facepalming his forehead at the thought of the smaller of the male teens still not paying attention. The other two started, turning to look at their current leader. Iverson continued to stand in front of the red paladin, whose eyes narrowed as if he were losing focus again. "I would have explained as much donkey, had you not interrupted, making it all too clear that you're not thrilled with being asked to come to this office."

"Wait." Lance's eyes blinked a couple of times. "You mean it's actually a real serious mission and not some babysitting job?"

"The Shirogane family is involved. Of course, it is important. And a major headache with some screwed up political agenda."

"Kagone!" Iverson snapped his one good eye twitching. "Zip your mouth donkey! Two weeks ago the son and daughter-in-law of the Alden family head executive died, leaving their four children in his custody. However, these four children never arrived in his custody like they were supposed to."

"Oh! Kidnapping!" Lance held a hand to his chin. "I can guarantee you, sir, we will not let the kidnappers get away with this dastardly deed."

"And I've no time for your games. It wasn't kidnapping either."

"Wait…" The blue paladin lowered his hand, confusion quickly spreading across his dark features.

Keith let out a deep sigh. "Told you. Headache."

"So, they ran away, and we're supposed to track them down?" Pidge stared at the commander. Isn't this, like a job for the police, or something like that?"

"Yeah, something like that."

The red paladin shoved his hands into his pocket. "Let me guess. The Alden family has connections with the Shirogane family, so the head of the Shirogane head is providing a favor. Typical."

"Hey…" Lance attempted to look Keith in the eye, his facial features twisted in repulsion. "Isn't this _Shiro's_ family."

"That's really none of your business."

"You… !" The blue paladin lunged at Keith, grabbing his fellow paladin by the front of his uniform. "How dare…!"

"Enough donkeys." Iverson pushed the two apart, before shoving a folder into Keith's arms. "Study up. Do your thing. Don't, though, mess this up like you always do."

Keith took a deep breath, opening up the folder. He took in the details regarding the four children, his mouth pushing together in frustration. There was one sighting of the children by a couple who owned a bakery out in the countryside, so he figured he would start there, and try to trace the kid's steps from there.

One of the school teacher's came to get them, taking them to get uniforms which were suitable for Earth. Lance's eyes narrowed at the orange uniform shoved into his arms. "Man. Why can't we wear our paladin uniforms? The orange of the cadet uniform really clashes with my complexion."

"Because our paladin uniforms will stand out like a sore thumb, and carry no authority what so ever." Pidge's eyes rolled back into her head as she headed into the girl's locker room to change, only for a shriek to occur just as the red paladin found himself handed a gray uniform.

"Excuse me, but…"

"This is the uniform that's being assigned to you."

"Oh, you're being played favorites with again," Lance muttered.

"Do you think I like it?"

"Kind of like how you supposedly don't like taking over for Shiro, which is why you refuse the title of a black lion."

"I still have the red paladin uniform. And it's temporary. We're getting Shiro back." Keith pushed himself into the guy's locker room. "We need to clear out the guy's locker room so that Pidge can change."

"Whatever for?"

"Would you rather go into the girl's locker room to explain that Pidge is actually a girl?" One of Lance's eyebrows shot up, a smirk spreading across his face, only for Keith to grab his arm. "Nope. Not going there."

"Why the hell do you have to suddenly act like Shiro! For crying out loud, you aren't him."

The team of four soon found themselves on the plane, heading to a base close by where the four children were last sighted. Keith sat in his seat, buckled in while Lance continued to mope. "I don't get…"

"I wasn't going to let you into the girl's locker room. You've got to be crazy to think I would."

"No. I don't get why you're getting a gray uniform."

"I hate the Shirogane family."

"Wow…" Lance narrowed his eyes at their current leader. "Are you, like saying that, because you're, like, mad that Shiro got captured again? Because that's really cruel."

"It really isn't any of your business, now is it?"

"None…" The blue paladin's arms flew out in exasperation. "None of our business? Shiro's our friend, which is a bit more than you can say now."

"Pidge, would you interview the couple?" Keith glanced over at Pidge, who pushed her glasses up before letting out a sigh.

"Why me? I have no people skills."

"What do you mean? I'm the one with no people skills."

"Yeah. We already know that. Why are you in charge again, and why are you wearing gray?"

Lance's snarky comment made Keith's jaw clench, nor did the red paladin wish to discuss the politics of the Shirogane family with him. "Did you read the folder I handed you like Pidge and Hunk did?"

"Yeah, sure I did, fearless leader."

The smaller of the male paladins let out a sigh, knowing full well that Lance was attempting to mock him. Instead, Keith remained silent for the rest of the trip, before getting off the plane with his team, heading to the bakery. The woman there blinked a couple of times, surprised to see the four. She called out for her husband, looking at them warily. "Who are you?"

Keith took a deep breath, giving off his assigned rank, before his name. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lance begin to have a conniption fit, his mouth opening to accuse the red paladin of lying, only for Hunk to reach up to shush him. "We were sent here because you were the last ones to sight the Alden children." He turned his head to the green paladin. "Cadet Holt will interview you."

"Are you related to the Holt's from the Kerberos mission."

Pidge shot Keith a dirty look before she turned to the couple. "You know, I believe Holt is a rather common family name."

"I guess." The couple began to repeat the story that was recorded in the file. Pidge looked up at Keith in exasperation, and yet it felt like the couple was hiding something.

The red paladin's eyes narrowed. "So, if you simply offered them a place to stay, why did they leave?"

"Because they were ungrateful children, that's why?"

Keith watched the green paladin's eyes narrow, knowing she had picked up on something from the question he asked. "So, let me get this straight. You're making that assumption based on what? Meeting the kids for only a few minutes? You absolutely didn't do anything, or say anything that might have upset them."

The woman looked at Pidge as if she didn't appreciate a child talking back. "No, we didn't."

Pidge snarked then, folding her arms. "Are you sure? Because right now I'm thinking you're thinking of me as an ungrateful child simply because you don't like my line of questioning. Do you really think my superior officer here would have picked me out to interview you if he hadn't faith in my skills." Her honey colored eyes glared at Keith, and she muttered under her breath so that only he could hear. "Not that I have much faith in them."

"We planned on sending the younger ones to foster care after they went to sleep in our store front. That was before we found out that Alden's grandchildren were missing."

"Thanks. You've said enough." Keith glared at the adults, before leaving the bakery to look around carefully.

Lance came out. "That was enough? Really? Because I haven't figured out squat. How do you know what went on that night?"

"How? It's what I would have done." The red paladin looked around, before heading off in a particular direction, Pidge hot on his heals while Hunk lets out a sigh of having to walk.

"You don't have a family!"

"Fine. Would you be happy with this being what Shiro would have done?"

"Don't you _dare_ deflect the conversation on me Keith!" Lance pointed his finger at the smaller of the male paladins, his ire obviously rising. "And no way in hell am I going to believe you're actually a rank higher than Shiro of all people!"

"Unfortunately I do."

"Stop deflecting the conversation!"

Keith remained silent, only to eventually arrive at a farmhouse towards the noontime, frowning as he did so. "I guess they would have slept here."

"Keith…" Lance glared at their leader, frustrated at the lack of communication.

"Could we, like, take a break." Hunk panted.

"Yeah. We should get something to eat." Keith's eyes drifted to the ground, before letting out a deep sigh.

"Keith…" Lance's tone of voice continued to show off his aggravation.

"What?"

"Why would you assume that they slept here of all places?"

"Isn't that the logical conclusion?"

"You're not Spock?"

"Who?"

"Oh, never mind. Please, just leave the thinking to Hunk and Pidge."

Keith felt his eye twitch. "Are you insinuating something about my intelligence Lance?"

"Well, if my intelligence couldn't fill a paper plane, and yours is less."

"It's not as if they could have gotten far with a six-year-old, and they would need to sleep eventually."

"Of all…"

"Can I remind you Keith, that you can't get far with a Hunk, as in me, either?" Hunk placed a hand on his chest.

"You're actually doing quite well Hunk in keeping up." Keith screwed on the lid for his water. "As soon as you're ready to go, we'll continue."

"Oh! I'm ready to go!"

Lance's eye twitched, his eyes looking at their current leader. "Nice one Keith. You do know that he's going to burn out in a few minutes, right."

"Why don't you have a little more faith in him?"

"Excuse me?" The blue paladin's eye twitched again.

"If Shiro was able to have faith in me, I don't see why I can't have faith in Hunk." Keith paused. "Although I also have faith in his instinct to run as well, but that's a different story. He's not got anything to run from."

"Yet." Lance shook his head but didn't argue anymore.

They soon came to a sign, and they weren't sure which way to go. Keith frowned, folding his arms. "Here is where I'm stumped. I do though recognize one of these names from the file. Greenfield."

"Yeah. That's where the baker and his wife said that he was going to look for them."

"So, if they knew…"

"They would have decided to head toward Silver City."

"Yeah, but even if they didn't, the couple headed towards Greenfield, and that direction has already been searched quite a bit."

The four continued on, the noontime sun turning towards the afternoon slowly. Keith stopped outside of the woods before heading in. Lance let out a deep sigh. "Keith…"

"I told you. They can't get far with a six-year-old."

Pidge pushed up her glasses. "While I'd say your calculations are correct Keith, how do you know they're correct?"

The red paladin's eyes blinked a couple of times before he shrugged his shoulders. "I just do."

He didn't catch the look Hunk and Pidge gave each other, but Lance did. "What?"

"Well…" Hunk twiddled his fingers as the three continued to follow Keith at a distance. "I think Keith's a lot smarter than you give him credit for."

"Come on. He's not any smarter than I am. I mean, he doesn't know those terminology thingies any better than I do."

"You do realize Keith's problem is a focus problem, not a comprehension problem?" Pidge piped up.

"Well, that and possibly simply not having a knack for big words. I mean, Keith used the equipment to find Blue _without_ anyone teaching him."

"Fine! I'm the village idiot here!"

"Glad you agree!"

"Henry should be back soon, right?" A small female piped up as she sat on the edge of the old boxcar. "I wonder what he'll bring home today?"

"I don't know Violet. Is Benny still napping?"

Violet's eyes drifted over to where her six-year-old brother was sprawled on the ground with her older sister's dog Watch. The letter W was still shaved into the dog's side. "Yes. They ran around quite a bit, didn't they."

Watch's head darted up suddenly, making Benny sit up, his chocolate brown eyes blinking a couple of times. "Jessie? Violet? Is Henry back!"

The small dog bolted, barking as he did so. The sound of an unfamiliar voice went off. "Quiznack! Leave me alone you dumb dog."

Jessie bolted up, her entire body tensing up, knowing that someone managed to find them. Another voice spoke up. "This way."

"Keith! Seriously! How the hell can you tell!"

Violet's hand grabbed her older sisters as the siblings watched a young man of Japanese descent dressed in a gray military uniform step out into the clearing. "You must be the Alden children, except one of you is missing."

A young man of Hispanic descent stepped out, followed by Watch nipping at his heals. "Seriously! Get this dog off of me!"

"I don't think I will."

A girl with reddish hair who looked to be around Jessie's age stepped out. "Oh come on. The dog is so adorable!"

"Yeah, adorable!" Another kid, who seemed to be of Polynesian descent stepped out, a very big smirk on his face.

Jessie's eyes narrowed as Violet leaned into her. "Who are you?"

"We're from the garrison," the Hispanic kid said, his attention focused on the dog. "The Shirogane family sent us."

Benny bolted up from the ground, darting over to Jessie's side, and she pulled both of her younger siblings closer. "Shirogane…"

The Hispanic kid looked at their eyes then, just as watch latched onto his cadet uniform. Henry was supposed to have entered the garrison that year, but their father had not wanted him to have anything to do with the school which had ties to their grandfather. She swallowed, knowing full well the looks of fear in her sibling's eyes. She narrowed her eyes, looking at the Japanese boy. He was the type of guy girls her age would go nuts for, but how _cute_ he looked was replaced by the fact the four had connections to the Shirogane family. "Go away. We want nothing to do with the Shirogane family, let alone our grandfather."

"What?"

"They're bad people." Benny piped up, huddling in closer to Jessie.

"Bad people!" The boy turned to the Japanese boy. "Keith! Tell them!"

"Tell them what?" The Japanese boy didn't seem to disagree with Jessie's stance, making her swallow as her chest tightened, her cheeks heating up slightly.

"That kid just called Shiro's family bad people! Are you going to defend him?"

"Oh." Keith glared at the other boy. "She's actually not incorrect you know. Shiro's just an exception to the rule."

"What the quiznack!" The other boy pulled back his arm, rubbing his shoulder as he walked towards the other boy, indicating he was itching for a fight. The big guy though grabbed onto him, lifting him up by his armpits. "Hunk!"

"Nope. You're not going to fight Keith, Lance. Particularly since we both know that won't end well."

"So, we report this to commander Iverson now?" The girl looked up at the obvious leader.

Violet whimpered. "Please. Don't let our grandfather or the Shirogane family know we're here."

"We won't."

Jessie drew her breath in, surprise washing over her at Keith's reaction.

"We won't." Keith knew full well what was going on in the kid's mind, and he, unfortunately, found himself sympathizing with them, but also in conflict with what to do. It wasn't something he could explain to anyone.

Lance, of course, wanted an answer. "Keith." The red paladin choose not to answer. "Keith, what are you thinking?"

"You heard them."

"Yeah. But they have no reason…"

"You don't know our reasons!" The girl named Jessie piped up, her eyes glaring holes into Lance as he tried to shake the dog off his pants leg. "And they're none of your business! Any of yours."

"We have orders, you know." Lance glared back at the girl.

"I'm going to wait for Allura's orders, that's what."

Pidge pushed up her glasses. "Keith, do you realize that you're going to get in trouble with Iverson if you don't follow orders? I mean, I don't know what kind of trouble you got into before we found the blue lion, but…"

"Yeah. Iverson will be like…" Hunk began to do his impressions. "Kagone! You donkey! You know that the Shirogane family ordered…"

"Enough. We're not turning them in." Keith headed off then towards the sound of water, his jaw clenched. He didn't catch the conversation which went down after that.

Jessie's entire body loosened up. "Kagone, as in Akira Kagone?"

The red paladin wasn't there to see the looks of confusion on the faces of his crew. Lance looked up at Hunk who still held onto him. "Um, no. His name is Keith Kogone."

"Yeah."

"Never mind." Jessie looked at the ground

It was then that Violet slipped off, her sister not noticing that her younger sister had left her side. Keith didn't notice her approach him either. "Akira?" Her voice was soft, and yet Keith still startled, looking her in the eye. A smile blossomed across her face. "I was right. You _are_ Akira Kogane, formally Akira Shirogane."

"That's none of your business, just like your reasons are your own business. I just know that you and your siblings don't want to be separated, and that's enough for me."

"Because that's what happened to you and Takashi?"

Keith flinched just as Violet wrapped her arms around her waist. "Hold on. What are you… how?"

Violet pulled away, making the sixteen-year-old blink a few times in confusion. "Our reasons may not be the business of your friends, but they certainly are yours."

"I don't follow." The red paladin nodded his head at the waterfall. "Did you guys do this?"

"Yeah." Violet folded her arms behind her back. "We've never met our grandfather. Papa had a disagreement with him. One involving the Shirogane family."

"I don't really want to hear about them."

"Because they're bad people."

"Things aren't black and white like that. Shiro for example…"

"Takashi, your older brother."

Keith looked her in the eye, something he rarely did with people. "You know. I don't like being hugged, and you know too much."

"The disagreement had to do with the death of the Shirogane's oldest son and his son's wife."

The red paladin took a deep breath. "You know, for a ten-year-old…" He shook his head. "Alright, so I can't argue that you're annoying, but for someone your age, you seem wise beyond your years. What is it you want to tell me?"

"Papa wasn't happy with the decision to separate you and Takashi and to adopt you out to another part of the family. I don't want to be separated from my siblings."

"I know." Keith sat down on a nearby log, watching the ten-year-old carefully. "You know, just because that happened to me and Shiro, that doesn't mean it is going to happen to your guys."

"Grandfather agreed with the decision. He's a bad person."

The red paladin swallowed, crossing his arms. "Well, he's friends with my grandfather, so I honestly can't argue against your logic."

"Violet!"

The girl's eyes widened. "Oh! That's Henry!"

She took off with quick speed.

Lance struggled to understand Keith.

Even to Lance, it was quite apparent how much trouble Keith was facing with the garrison commander, what with his attitude towards breaking the rules, but he also noticed the red paladin's disdain for the Shirogane family, as well as how quickly their current leader fell in line at the mention of his name. In some ways, he wasn't surprised that Keith decided not to follow orders, and yet Keith's reaction when Iverson brought up Shiro's family left the very distinct impression that the red paladin didn't every go against them.

The blue paladin shook his leg, attempting to shake off the dog latched onto his leg. It wasn't that long after Keith disappeared that the fourth Alden child appeared, and he wasn't pleased either. "Who are you?"

"They were sent by the Shirogane family."

"In other words, we've got to leave." The boy narrowed his eyes at Lance.

"No, no. You don't. It's not safe for kids to be out here like this."

"We've taken care of ourselves just fine."

"Yeah, we'll I'd never let my younger siblings live in an abandoned boxcar, now would I?" Lance poked the boy in the chest. "What is your guy's problem with the Shirogane family anyways."

The younger boy continued to glare at him. "You've never had to fear being separated from your siblings. Unlike Takashi Shirogane, I'm _not_ going to be separated from _my_ siblings."

"Wait…" Lance felt his throat tighten up.

The boy turned to his brother and sister. "Where's Violet?"

"Shiro has younger siblings?" The blue paladin felt his throat tighten up, wondering how he didn't know that particular fact regarding Shiro.

"Takashi has one sibling." The younger boy glared, before calling out for his younger sister. Violet soon came through the trees, followed closely by Keith, who avoided eye contact like usual. The younger boy's words set in, and yet the tension of the situation went right over his head. Words though didn't come to his mouth.

"Violet, we've got to leave."

Lance saw the sad look in the girl's eyes and felt his heart melt a little. She spoke up, her mouth twisting like his little sister did whenever something upset her. "Can't we stay Henry?"

"We've been found, so we've got to leave."

"Where are you going to go?" Keith piped up. "And I'm not going to report on your guy's location."

"We don't have any reason to trust you."

"Hey…" Hunk piped up. "Is that food in that bag you have?" It was then that Lance noticed the bag in Henry's hands. "I could cook something up."

The youngest seemed to forget why they were there. "I'm hungry! I'm hungry."

The oldest of the two girls walked over to her brother, whispering something into his ear, and Lance thought he caught her mentioning something about not being able to get away. The others didn't catch the words, but Henry reluctantly gave in to Hunk's request to make food. The other paladins sat down while Hunk and the oldest girl started to prepare a stew. Lance found himself sitting next to Keith, muttering under his breath without realizing it. "Did you know Shiro has a younger sibling?

He didn't see Keith tense up slightly. "Um, yeah."

"Really. Because I didn't know. I mean, the guy is like, my idol, and I didn't know that he had a younger sibling, yet you did."

"Not that big of a deal really." Keith's voice was soft as if he was wanting to change the subject, but also not wanting to be heard.

"It is. I mean, apparently, they got separated. Well, I guess it's kind of like how I got separated from my family."

"It's not."

"No. I mean, when he went missing. I didn't stop and think anybody might be missing him."

"Could you shut up already."

Lance took a deep breath, looking at Henry and the others. The little one's cup was chipped, and the situation wasn't very good. "Hey…"

"What."

"We've got to turn them in, Keith."

"No, we don't."

The blue paladin turned to look at his fellow paladin. "Yes, we do. Even you can be blind to the fact they're not in a good situation here."

"And you don't understand." The smell of food cooking started to drift into the paladins.

"Keith…"

"Do I have to make it an order?"

"What are you going to do if I don't follow your orders? Huh? You're not Shiro?"

"No. I'm not. I honestly couldn't do anything, but for once think about your actions."

"How about you think of yours." Lance looked at the kids, noticing how happy they seemed, and yet something in his mind felt off. A silence fell between the two when a sudden urge overcame the blue paladin. "I've got to go to the bathroom."

"Why are you telling me that?"

"Because…" The young Hispanic teen stood up, sighing as he did so. "Never mind."

The blue paladin released himself, before sticking his hands into his pocket and locking up at the sky. He felt his phone, a device he'd not used since he'd left Earth, and pulled it out. He flipped it open, glad Pidge found a way to charge their items on the ship. A picture of his younger siblings flickered across the screen, and Lance worried his lip. "Man…"

" _Don't you trust Keith?_ " the voice at the back of his head said. " _Of course, he's not Shiro. But deep down, you do know under normal circumstances you can trust him just the same._ "

" _No, I can't. I mean, he's not acting like himself._ " The blue paladin took a deep breath, before flipping through his contacts for the number for the garrison, not sure at all if he was doing the right thing. "Sorry Keith. I know you're going to be pissed off with me when you find out, but right now it seems like the right thing to do."

The food was nice, and yet Keith found himself unable to eat the stew. Going against the head of the Shirogane clan was something he never expected to do, and yet something deep down in his gut said he couldn't turn on the kids and separate them. Deep down, though, he also knew there was a point to what Lance said. The two sides were in conflict with each other in the same way being or not being the leader in Shiro's absence seemed to be in conflict with each other.

The kid named Henry continued to glare at him, and the children seemed to suspect that their tranquil life was going to end. Keith wanted it to last only just a little longer, a thought bouncing around in the back of his head. " _You're just doing this because of the chance to be together as a family and not separated ended for you and Shiro because of the Galra._ "

The sound of a helicopter jarred Keith away from this thoughts, his eyes darting up to the sky. "How…"

"Maybe it's just some random search and rescue." Lance looked at the ground.

"You…" The red paladin felt his jaw tighten, knowing this wasn't true, recognizing the very distinct sound of that particular helicopter.

Hunk, of course, blurted out the name of the helicopter, shaking his head. "I thought there weren't many, and most are in the hands of the Shirogane."

"Great." Henry stood up. "We need to get going."

"Lance!" Pidge glared at the blue paladin while the older two tried to gather up the others.

Keith looked at the ground. "Do you really think you're going to get away? You guys know the Shirogane family. Isn't that why you didn't leave before?" The red paladin watched Henry and Jesse freeze and heard Lance cleared his throat. A shiver ran down his spine, standing up. "I'll take care of this."

"How?" Henry, of course, didn't believe him.

"I have my ways." Keith nodded his head to the boxcar. "Hang out there until I take care of them."

"Are you crazy?" Hunk shook his head. "Why are you doing this? Something to do with, you know, Shiro?"

"Yeah. I guess it does." Keith's ears were at attention, his mind not focused on the group around him, waiting for someone to step out of the forest.

The person who came was one of the worst possibilities – the old man. A voice drew Keith out almost. "So, what are we going to do?"

"You're going to do nothing." Out of the corner of his eye, Keith could see the guilty look on Lance's face, before turning his attention to the old man. "They aren't here."

"Really?" The old man of Japanese descent stood there, his cane to the ground, his eyes narrowed. "Why don't I look in that boxcar there?"

"No."

"Why do you always choose to be so defiant of authority?" The man asked.

Lance's voice strained. "Keith. Who is this person?"

"The head of the Shirogane family. I'll handle this."

"Yeah, but…"

"Please." Keith let one of his legs push back, carefully taking a stance at the ready, his fists balled up.

"Are you really going to fight me?"

"Keith!" Pidge's voice cried out from behind him, the worry evident.

"Yes. I am. If I win, then you'll let the Alden siblings be?" Keith felt Lance place a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on. Are you crazy?"

"Probably." The red paladin shrugged his shoulders. He took a deep breath, watching as the old man lifted up a hand, motioning for him to make an attack. He then moved, only for his attempted kick to quickly be grabbed, and for him to find himself thrown to the ground. He got up, and tried a few more times, feeling his ribs side hurt at one point, making him hope he'd not broken a rib.

Lance grabbed his arm. "Keith…"

"Don't tell me to stop. Back off."

The blue paladin raised up his hands, stepping back from the fight. A few more turns and Keith found himself struggling to get up off the ground, and yet he managed to stand up. The old man continued to glare at him. "Why are you doing this? Your usual self-centered reasons? Or are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"You wouldn't get it."

"Keith…"

The red paladin attempted to ignore Lance, still irritated at the perceived betrayal. He staggered into a position again, readying himself to attack, only for a soft voice to ring out, and small hands to wrap around his waist as something small hit his side, nearly knocking him off his already unsteady feet. "Stop!"

"Violet!" Jessie's voice rang out, and looking back Keith could see the other three Alden children peering out from their boxcar.

"I can't." A coldness swept through his body, and he could taste the blood on his lips. "Do you and your siblings really want to be separated?"

"It's not worth it," Violet stated.

"She's right."

"Shut up Lance."

Violet tugged on Keith's uniform, the one he felt he shouldn't deserve, let alone the obnoxious rank. "Akira…"

Keith's throat tightened at the name, and he looked at his grandfather just as he heard muttering from behind him from the other Alden children. He started to move forward, only for the youngest to latch onto his leg, and another of the kids to grab onto the back of his uniform. His mouth opened to say something, only for Henry to step in front of him, giving him a look which forced Keith to loosen his grip.

"We'll go. We'll go willingly."

The journey back to the army base was uneventful, with nobody speaking. Keith felt like his world was breaking apart, but also numb. The feeling of failure washed over him, watching the Alden siblings look around the meeting room while someone went to talk to their grandfather. Keith's fingers drummed the table, wondering who would speak first, glad in part that the head of the Shirogane family wasn't in the room, but he also found himself pulled out of the room to receive medical treatment.

He sat on the bed, looking at his fingers folded together, and his bruised side. "As if there's any way they'll let me return to the Castle of Lions."

"About that. I'm sorry."

Keith's head darted up, his eyes widening. "Lance?"

The blue paladin rubbed the back of his neck. "I did what I thought was right. I know that you've taken care of yourself ever since your parents died, but the Alden kids aren't you. And if it had been my younger siblings, I couldn't have lived with them being in such a situation."

"Shows what you know."

"Keith…" Lance took a deep breath. "Or should I call you Akira?" The red paladin hung his head but lifted his fist up in the manner he'd seen other teenagers his age do with their friends. His fellow paladin didn't seem to follow. "What are you doing? Wait. Don't you normally ask me that?"

Keith kept his hand held up high, and finally, Lance bumped his fist. "You stopped me from doing something very stupid, but probably even worse trouble than I already am in. You're in charge now."

The red paladin heard his fellow paladin let out a snorting sound, but choose not to look up. "So what? You had one lapse of judgment. That's not a good reason to hand over leadership of Voltron to me. That's actually, I'm sad to admit, a bad idea."

"I guess you've not put two and two together regarding how much trouble I've gotten myself into this time around. And this isn't the only time I've had a lapse of judgment."

"Are you really in that much trouble?" Lance sat down on the bed next to Keith. "I mean, why did you do what you did when you knew what kind of trouble you would get into." The blue paladin paused. "Never mind. Do you really think they'll try to prevent you from serving as a paladin of Voltron."

"Try? They can. He can. He will." Keith continued to fill his world break apart. "Since this is the case, you're going to be in charge."

"No. I'm not. I'm not going to let them – him, take you away as well."

Keith's dark blue eyes shot open, and he looked into Lance's bright blue ones. "Why?"

"Why?" The blue paladin barely reacted. "'cause Allura would be pissed off if I didn't."

"Course. She's already lost, Shiro."

"No! That's not… Are you that oblivious?" Lance let out a sigh. "Fine. We're friends." Keith's head hung, so he didn't notice Lance hold out his fist. "Hey, Keith, can you look at me?" When he didn't get a response, the blue paladin took a deep breath. "Akira."

Keith looked up, and very cautiously fist bumped his fellow paladin back, before diverting his eyes again. "So, we are friends?"

"Did you doubt that?"

"No. I've just never had a friend before."

"No friends before? What about Shiro?" Lance's eyes blinked as he crossed his arms, but this went unnoticed by Keith. "I mean, you knew that Shiro had a younger brother when I didn't, and I idolize the guy. You aren't friends with him?" Keith remained silent, only for Lance to let out a sigh. "Fine. That's Shiro's private business. I get that. It's why you're not explaining why the Shirogane is as messed up as it is as well. I mean, that guy beat the crap out of you."

"That's because that is the way the Shirogane family is, and he knew that full well when he challenged me, young man."

Keith felt a shudder run down his spine. Lance, however, opened his mouth and started to say something in defense of the red paladin, only for the smaller teen to reach up and tug the sleeve of the bigger teen. "Don't."

"But…"

"Let me explain things. Our family is a military family, one of the few noble families which practice the way of the samurai, so we have a strict code of conduct. Bushido. That code involves fighting for honor, and things one believe in. At that time, Akira felt what he believed strongly in was in direct conflict with what I wanted, so he challenged me, and as such I respected his challenge."

"Why couldn't you two have just settled things through words?" Lance continued to butt in.

"Why don't you ask Akira?" The old man's words made Keith look up, to see the blue paladin waiting for an answer. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Lance started to grow impatient, and finally the head of the Shirogane family spoke up. "This is simply how this child has been. He's struggled to articulate himself through words." Keith felt shame, and hung his head down, not wanting to look either in the eye. "Akira, I owe you an apology."

"For what? We both know I'm messed up. I also knew what would happen when I challenged you. I knew I would get a sound beating. I was prepared to die."

"No. This is an apology long overdue. When your parents died, I should never have separated you from your older brother."

"Wait…" Lance stammered. He turned to Keith.

For some reason, Keith knew he was staring. "I knew because I am."

"I told you before that you're not Spock."

"I honestly don't know what that means."

"No. You don't."

"I'm sorry."

"We'll talk about it when we get back to the Castle of Lions." Lance piped up, where the old man could hear. Keith's eyes clamped shut. "I told you, we're not leaving without you."

The old man ignored Lance's words. "The Alden children would like to see you, now that you're bandaged up."

The man left, and Lance let out a sniff. "Cold."

"Don't."

"I got it. I know it may not seem like I do."

Jessie watched Henry carefully, knowing her older brother was in a dark mood. Their grandfather sat now at the other side of the table but didn't attempt to make contact with them. The big guy named Hunk, and the small female sat between them, making the situation a bit more comfortable if they hadn't been on their own. "Are you mad at Akira?"

"He's not the one who turned us in, and he did try to defend us."

The door opened, and the young man stepped in with his grandfather and the Hispanic young man. Jessie worried her bottom lip, while the young female stood up. "Keith!"

"You okay?" Hunk spoke up.

"Yeah."

Violet and Benny hurried forward, startling the teen as they hugged him. The old man then bowed. "I need to apologize. My actions towards my grandchildren twelve years ago has caused a misunderstanding between you and your grandfather."

"What do you mean?" Henry didn't move. "Our father and grandfather had a disagreement over the fact you separated your grandchildren when their parents died. Isn't that what he plans on doing?"

"While that's the way it seemed to your father, as your grandfather refused to intervene. This isn't to say he disagreed with my decision. He simply knew it was not his place to say anything, as this was a Shirogane family matter. He was limited to voicing his opinion to me, that my grandsons would prefer to stay together, and that it might have a negative effect. In particular, it did have a negative effect on the younger one. He won't though separate you, children. He is a kind man, but also respectful of our culture, and the way it works. At least give him a chance."

Henry and Jessie looked at each other, before agreeing to the demand.


End file.
